Tough Job
by elsiecarson
Summary: THE IRON LADY. Denis Thatcher is trying to support his wife through the Falklands War crisis, but is having trouble getting her to look after herself. As the crisis worsens she sleeps less and less and he gets more and more worried. RIP Margaret Thatcher.
1. Chapter 1

Denis enters Margaret's office at ten to two in the morning. Her office at 10 Downing Street is always strewn with papers and tonight is no different. Margaret has fallen asleep. Her normally perfectly coiffed hair is rumpled. Denis smiles as he looks at Margaret. Her fountain pen is still clutched in her hand. "Come on, M.T. It's time for bed."

"Just 5 more minutes, Denis. I just need to finish this page." Margaret rouses from sleep quickly.

"Now, M.T., when I came in you were fast asleep. You can't go with no sleep forever." Denis remains firm on this point. Margaret is absolutely beastly, more than usual, when she's overtired. He takes Margaret's hand and she slowly stands up and follows him up the stairs. "The bed is awfully empty without you next to me."

"I love when you hold me at night. I'm sorry I'm being so neglectful of you, Denis." Margaret begins to change for bed.

"Well, you do have a country to run, darling. That can't be helped, but you do have to take care of yourself in the process. I can't be waking up late at night and telling you to go to bed." Denis climbs into bed and waits for Margaret.

Margaret sighs as she slips her black pumps off. Nothing feels better than getting her shoes off at the end of the day. She slips out of her skirt suit and reaches for her nightgown. All Denis can see of his wife is her silhouette in front of the window with gentle blue moonlight streaming through the blinds. She's beautiful and Denis loves her dearly. Her hair flattens out as she pulls her nightgown on over her head. She climbs into bed next to Denis. She kisses Denis and rolls over to go to sleep.

Denis sighs heavily as he sinks his head onto his pillow. Margaret and he haven't really talked since she became Prime Minister. He's hardly had anything more than a kiss from her in that time period either. He wraps his arm around her waist as she quickly falls asleep. While Margaret falls asleep quickly Denis lays awake for a long time. He's tired of being ridiculed in the press for playing a non-traditional role in his marriage. He thought he was supporting his wife's career and all he's gotten for his trouble is scorn. Denis looks at the back of Margaret's head with her bouffant hairdo and he loves her dearly and he knows how important her job is, but it's taking over her life and he's suffering for it.


	2. What's Going On?

When the alarm goes off early the next morning Denis groans and Margaret leaps out of bed. She could always go with less sleep than he could. Almost immediately the phone rings and Denis knows he's not going to go back to sleep again. He gets up and pulls his dressing gown on. When he gets down to the dining room Margaret is standing, stoic, looking out the window. When Denis gets closer to his wife he notices the tears flowing down her face. "M.T. what's wrong? You don't usually cry. What was the phone call about?"

"The Argentineans have bombed the H.M.S. Sheffield in retaliation for us sinking their ship. They have enough missiles to cripple our navy and I have to make a decision about this war. Do I continue this or do I pull my navy out and bring them home? We've already lost too many men in this war." Margaret sinks onto the window seat.

"Now listen M.T., you can't pull out of the Falklands now. You can't be seen as wavering on this decision. Steady the bus, M.T." Denis says firmly. "Be who you have to be."

"It's hard." Margaret sighs.

"No one ever said going your own way was going to be easy. You've always been capable of going your own way without the support of others. Make the decision you know is right to make." Denis stays firm and pours Margaret a cup of tea.

"I never thought being Prime Minister would require so many difficult decisions. I thought it would all be so easy to fix. Why did I think that? Nothing else was easy in my political life so why should policy while I'm Prime Minister be easy? What was I thinking?" Margaret runs her hands over her face before she picks up her teacup.

"Margaret, this is what you wanted. When you ran for leader of the party you weren't sure you were going to win, but you friends in the party made you believe you could win both becoming leader of the party and Prime Minister. You wanted to change the country and you have. Stay strong, M.T." Denis tucks into his breakfast. It's his favourite meal of the day because his wife is usually in the best mood first thing in the morning.


	3. Breakfast

Margaret slices into her fresh, hot sausages and cuts into her over-hard eggs to make sure they are over-hard. Denis can see the wheels turning as Margaret thinks things over while she eats. "I have to give cabinet my decision about the Falklands war. They won't be happy that we're staying in."

"I knew you'd make a strong decision, darling. You are perfectly capable of making the hard decisions." Denis smiles at his wife over the rim of his teacup.

Margaret finishes her breakfast in silence. Denis is happy that she's still coming to breakfast in her pyjamas and dressing gown. She was uncomfortable with it at first when they moved into #10, but with getting up so early in the morning Margaret found it much easier to attend breakfast still dressed in her nightclothes.

"I'm going to go get dressed. You sit and finish your breakfast and I'll come and say goodbye before I leave." Margaret says pushing back her chair.

"Don't forget all the papers that are still on your desk." Denis reminds his wife.

"Right, thank you darling. I'll put them all back in my briefcase." Margaret had almost forgotten about those state papers. Margaret climbs the stairs to her bedroom and immediately heads to her closet. She sighs as she looks at the skirt suits in her closet. Sometimes she wonders if there's more to her wardrobe. She pulls out a red skirt suit and reaches for some black pumps. She slips into her suit and then backcombs her hair into her bouffant hairdo. She enters the bathroom and begins to put her make-up on. She doesn't put a lot of make-up on since she works in a predominantly male environment. She walks back into the bedroom and slips her feet into her pumps. She walks down the hall to her office and puts the files back into her briefcase. She notices a note from Denis written on her personal note paper. She smiles when she reads the note. Denis is so romantic. She loves getting notes like this before she goes off to a long day's work. She tucks the note into her pocket so she can read it throughout the day.


	4. Take a Coat!

Margaret walks down the stairs with her briefcase. She walks back into the dining room where Denis is sitting reading the newspaper. "Margaret where did you put the pens I use for the crossword?"

"They're in the canister on the side board. I need to get going. I'll see you later. I love you." Margaret kisses Denis' cheek.

"Take a coat, Margaret, it's chilly out there. I don't want you to catch cold." Denis says sweetly. He wants to take care of his wife.

"That's so sweet, Denis. Of course I'll take my coat. Do I need my scarf as well?" Margaret asks as she looks at the crossword puzzle over Denis' shoulder and fills in a clue.

"I don't think it's cold enough for you to need a scarf. You are being driven, so you should be fine." Denis kisses Margaret's cheek.

"Right, I'm off. I shouldn't be late, but I'll let you know if something comes up." Margaret smiles as Denis nods at her without looking up from his crossword.


	5. Definite Decisions

"Morning Stephen," Margaret says to her chauffeur when she comes out the front door of #10.

"Good morning Prime Minister," Stephen opens the car door for Margaret. "Is there any particular route you'd like to take this morning?"

"Just get me there Stephen." Margaret says shortly. She doesn't want any scenic drives today.

"Yes ma'am, it sounds serious." Stephen says as they pull away from #10.

"Mmhm," Margaret says as she pulls the brief out she was trying to finish last night. She's learned to read in the car as a necessary skill. The car phone rings and she immediately answers. "Hello?"

"Prime Minister we need a decision on the Falklands now! Our ships are sitting ducks out there! Our casualty rates are going to skyrocket!" The Naval Secretary, Rear Admiral Roger Dimmock, says firmly. He sounds slightly panicked.

"We're staying in! Scramble the fighters and protect the fleet! We also need to keep an eye on the subs." Margaret says equally firmly.

"Alright, I'll let government and the fleet know. I'll also have to inform the Queen." Roger Dimmock says wearily.

"Of course you do. I'll be there are soon as possible." Margaret leans back in her seat. She hopes she's making the right decision. She sighs and looks out the window to try and compose her emotions. She picks up her brief and finishes reading it before she gets to the office. She strides confidently into the Parliament Buildings and immediately heads into her office.

"Prime Minister, you're needed in the war room as soon as possible for an update." Margaret's personal assistant, Cynthia Crawford, says when she walks in.

Margaret quickly hangs her coat up and says, "I'm on my way now." She grabs her briefcase as she leaves.

"What's the situation?" Margaret asks entering the war room.

"It's turned into an air battle. Our aircraft are superior, but I'm not so sure we can sustain it for long." Roger Dimmock and Sir David Craig, the Chief of the Air Staff tell Margaret.

"We need to draw the fighting away from the fleet. We cannot jeopardize our fleet." Margaret looks at the positions of the planes and ships on the map beneath her fingers.

"I tend to agree with you, Prime Minister. If something happens to a ship during an aerial battle we'll be in big trouble." Roger Dimmock says as he surveys the scene.

"Just keep them safe, or as safe as is possible in the circumstances. Is someone monitoring the subs? All we need is a submarine ambush when we're focusing on the air force." Margaret asks trying to get as much information in a compact amount of time.


End file.
